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Saturday, September 15, 2012

It Is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day

It is always nice to walk around the yard and document what is blooming each month. Some of the flowers are waning just a bit, but there is still a lot of color. Walk with me as we see what's blooming. At the top of the pathway in the backyard are three Russian Sage, Perovskia atriplicifolia. All summer the bees have enjoyed this great purple bloom.

Sages on the right, and recently planted on the left, Caryopteris x clandonensis 'Longwood Blue'. The stamen look like long eyelashes. I have wanted a Caryopteris for a while and lucked into a few at the end of season sale at Park Seed. Mine are now blooming and I am really glad to have some more purple/blue in the garden.

At the bottom of the pathway are a couple more new plants. These are recent purchases. They are taking the place of a couple Helenium 'Mardi Gras' that had to be removed because of aster yellows. After a repeat planting of another batch of Helenium earlier in the season, I decided to change the type of plants. Don't you just love the color of this one? Agastache 'Heatwave'. The hummingbirds have been checking this one out. Hope it comes back well next year!

Another replacement for the Helenium is a Black and Blue Salvia, Salvia guaranitica. Have/had a small one that came with me from Virginia. I finally conceded it wasn't in a good spot, moved it, and now it has disappeared. Glad I bought a new one! You can see my 'helpers' in the background. They wanted to be in each photo or on top of whatever bloom I was taking photographing. Some got stepped on...a lot. Rotten dogs.

Continuing to the bank along the water, I have two Abelia x grandiflora 'Kalidescope' flanking the steps. They are both in full bloom and doing well. Love these red stems.

Remember I mentioned that I bought a few Caryopteris? Well, on the bank there are three Caryopteris x clandonensis 'Sterling Silver'. Love silvery foliage against the yellow of my Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Gold Threads'.

Here is another shot of the silvery foliage.

Also on the bank is a nice stand of Catmint, again with the silvery foliage and blue/purple blooms. There was too much activity with a certain dog and a blue ball, so we left the area before a good picture was taken. Just above the Catmint are three rosemary bushes, in bloom. Going with the blue blooms again...just love it!

In the woodland area my Cyclamen hederifolium are blooming. Such sweet little blooms. I bought five corms and last year only three showed up. So far this year only two have blooms. The clumps are getting larger which is nice, just wish the others would show up.

In the family garden Clematis 'Prince Charles' is continuing to bloom. This one has bloomed on and off all summer long. Right now it is entwined in the gardenia bushes.

My Pluchea camphorata is still blooming. This dusty rose color is really nice against the woods. When it goes to seed I will be gathering some of the seeds to scatter elsewhere.

And finally, please indulge me another photo of the toadlily, Tricyrtis formosana 'Gilt Edge'. This is such a cool looking bloom, the desire is to get "THE" picture of it.

This brings our stroll to a close, thanks for joining me. Please go over and visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens for this month's Bloom Day.

46 comments:

Yes, the stamens on Tricyrtis blooms is so cool-looking! It seems like every Bloom Day post I've looked at has Caryopteris in it, including mine. I do love the color on your Agastache 'Heatwave.' I might have to buy that one.

I love your Caryopteris! I bought mine because of its fabulous blooms and that they attract butterflies however, I've never seen any on mine...you? It certainly attracts the bees though! So sad about your black & blue salvia...mine has gotten very large and I am transplanting parts of it to other areas in the garden. If we can ever meet up I can dig some up for you if you are interested. Happy GBBD!

Karin, I have not seen many butterflies on the Caryopteris...yet. Mine are new, so maybe when they are larger?? The OLD B & B salvia is toast, but the new one is quite happy. You are very kind to offer.

Love all your purple and blue blooms! I'll have to check out the 'Sterling Silver' caryopteris. If mine comes back again next year, I am definitely going to add more of these late-summer bloomers to my garden, too. I love 'Heatwave'! Last year I planted three of them, and they were gorgeous, so full of butterflies and bees, not to mention the hummingbirds. They didn't come back for me, though, so I planted three more again this year, but they just haven't grown like last year's plants. You'll probably have better luck with them in your warmer growing zone. Love the toad lilies, too!

It looks like your garden is beautiful in blues. The Caryopteris is such a great plant at this time of year. Wait until they self seed! You might let a few grow because they are not generally long living plants. I have two that I had for years, but often they get woody and then die back, even if you maintain them by cutting them back in Spring.

So I'm not the only one with a conflict between my garden photography and dogs?! LOL!!! It amazes me how they're ignoring me and playing a hundred feet away when I'm just walking, but if I stop and lean down to take a picture, they're immediately underfoot, checking out what I'm pointing that funny black thing at. The destruction crew! (Actually, they destroy very little...except, sometimes, my peace of mind as I'm trying to take a particular shot.)

Your garden's looking beautiful. I love all the blue and blue/purple that you have in it. The clematis I've got that's been blooming off and on all summer for me is Riguchi (sp?). It has little blue bells that are truly enchanting.

Janet I love all your beautiful blooms and especially that silver leaf caryopteris...I love agastaches too. My toad lilies have not bloomed although I don't think they will bloom too much with the dry summer...

Belated happy bloom day! I love that black and blue salvia Janet! The blue is so vibrant. I must find a way to over winter a Caryopteris. I just love them and wish I had one to add that pretty dash of blue right about now. Toadliles are another favourite I wish I had. It is so dry here in late summer that I have had no luck with them so far.

Jennifer, thanks, same to you. Black and blue is sure a butterfly and hummer magnet. Maybe you could put the toadlily in a moist area, like we have some near the air conditioner condensation pipe...where the water drips out all day. Do you have anything like that?

Hey, Jan, HOW did I miss your last comment on my blog "The Backyard Dirt" recently? I have been wanting to comment on yours several times when reading it and made a concerted effort till I found the way today. Yaay! LOVE the floating fotos of your wildflowers--so gorgeous. A camera in your hand and eye is art.

I'm gonna peruse back postings to see if you have ever given a wide shot of them all blooming where you broadcast them (which I saw in an earlier post once). If you haven't, step back and let us see them as a whole sometime.

Even though I mostly blog about my veggie garden in South Carolina, I LOVE ornamentals which are what really got me started gardening. My favorite ornamental planting this year was my Kelvin Floodlight dahlia blooming it's huge heart out this first year all curled lemony light sometimes plate size. Thank you for your blog and visiting mine!

My faves: Caryopteris 'Sterling Silver' is awesome and I need one. The clematis 'Prince Charles' is stunning and I'm still terrified of clematis alltogether. And the tricyrtis bloom is beyond cool. Loving all your blooms, not much here other than the grasses.

John, Yes, it is a good one!! Your Sunshine Blue is a great one as well. Why are you terrified of Clematis??? Sweet Autumn Clematis will reseed and become a problem, but the others are nice to have. Love your grasses as well.

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